Uranus Project

Contents

Naming of Uranus

Johann E. Bode, a German astronomer, named the planet after the Greek god of the sky.

Physical Characteristics of Uranus

Diameter- 51,500 km (32,000 miles).

Mass- 8.6849e25 kg.

Third largest Gas Giant.

Surface area- ruffly 8,115,600,000 km squared.

Has more of a cyan color.

Uranus has an axial tilt of 96 degrees.

On March 13,1781, William Herchel discovered a new comet, or at least that's how he labeled it at first. Also, this ball of gas had been spotted many times, but was often mistaken to be a star before it was actually classified as a planet.

Moons of Uranus

Has 27 moons.

Third planet with the most moons.

Name

Discovery Date

Discoverer

Distance from Uranus (103 km)

Orbital Period (days)

Mass (1020 kg)

Radius (km)

Miranda (UV)

1948

G. Kuiper

129.39

1.413479

0.66

240 x 234.2 x 232.9

Ariel (UI)

1851

W. Lassel

191.02

2.520379

13.5

581.1 x 577.9 x 577.7

Umbriel (UII)

1851

W. Lassel

266.30

4.144177

11.7

584.7

Titania (UIII)

1787

W. Herschel

435.91

8.705872

35.2

788.9

Oberon (UIV)

1787

W. Herschel

583.52

13.463239

30.1

761.4

Cordelia (UVI, S/1986 U7)

1986

Voyager 2

49.77

0.335034

20

Ophelia (UVII, S/1986 U8)

1986

Voyager 2

53.79

0.376400

21

Bianca (UVIII, S/1986 U9)

1986

Voyager 2

59.17

0.434579

27

Cressida (UIX, S/1986 U3)

1986

Voyager 2

61.78

0.463570

40

Desdemona (UX, S/1986 U6)

1986

Voyager 2

62.68

0.473650

32

Juliet (UXI, S/1986 U2)

1986

Voyager 2

64.35

0.493065

47

Portia (UXII, S/1986 U1)

1986

Voyager 2

66.09

0.513196

68

Rosalind (UXIII, S/1986 U4)

1986

Voyager 2

69.94

0.558460

36

Cupid (S/2003 U2)

2003

74.8

0.618

12

Belinda (UXIV, S/1986 U5)

1986

Voyager 2

75.26

0.623527

40

Puck (UXV, S/1985 U1)

1985

Voyager 2

86.01

0.761833

81

Mab (S/2003 U1)

2003

97.7

0.923

16

Caliban (UXVI, S/1997 U1)

1997

Kavelaars, Gladman, Holman, et. Al

7230

579.5*

48

Stephano (UXX, S/1999 U2)

1999

Kavelaars, Gladman, Holman, et. Al

8002

676.5*

10

Sycorax (UXVII, S/1997 U2)

1997

Kavelaars, Gladman, Holman, et. Al

12,179

1283.4*

95

Margaret (UXXIII, S/2003 U3)

2003

14,345

1694.8

6

Prospero (UXVIII, S/1999 U3)

1999

Kavelaars, Gladman, Holman, et. Al

16,418

1992.8*

15

Setebos (UXIX, S/2001)

1999

Kavelaars, Gladman, Holman, et. Al

17,459

2202.3*

15

Trinculo (UXXI, S/2001 U1)

2001

8571

758.1*

5

S/1986 U10

1986

76.4

0.638

40

S/2001 U2

2001

21,000

2823.4*

6

S/2001 U3

2001

4280

266.6*

6

What about the Climate?

Metric: -216 degrees C

English: -357 degrees F

Gets its blue tint color from methane.

Cool Facts

Uranus is the only giant planet whose equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit.

A lot of what we know about Uranus was discovered by Voyager 2 flyby in 1986.

The Methane gas in the atmosphere absorbs red wavelengths from a reflected sunlight which gives Uranus its color.&nbsp It is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, and 2% methane. Both Uranus and Neptune are known to be Ice Giants. This may be because of Uranus' unusual tilt which causes the polar regions to take in more energy from the Sun than its equatorial at its equator than its poles.

The tilt of Uranus plays a huge role on the plant's weather and day/night cycles.&nbsp
What may have caused this tilt?&nbsp
Many Astronomers think that there was a collision of large proto-planet smashed into Uranus billions of years ago. "During the point of Uranian solstices, one pole faces the sun continuously, while the other pole faces away.
This causes each pole to experience 42 years of continuous sunlight, then 42 years of continuous darkness.
However, there is only a thin strip of Uranus' surface that experience this kind of cycle.

&nbsp
In 1851 John Hershel named the moons; he named the moons after Shakespeare's characters.By 1986, Voyager 2 discovered about ten more moons. One recent moon that have been detected by the Voyager's spacecraft is named, Puck. It is classified as one of the largest moons on Uranus.

Uranus' Magnetic Field

Uranus possesses one of the oddest magnetic fields in the solar system.
Like all the giant planets, it generates its own powerful magnetic field.
However, the north-south axis of Uranus’ magnetic field is tilted 60 degrees to the rotation axis.
The center of the magnetic field is not at the center of the planet; it is offset from the center by about a third of the planet’s radius.
That may mean that it is not generated within Uranus’ core, but rather at a shallower depth.
Voyager 2 found that, because of the extreme tilt of Uranus, the planet’s magnetotail is wound into a corkscrew shape stretching 10 million kilometers behind the planet.